Indian cobra. Lifestyle and habitat of the Indian cobra Habitat of the spectacled snake population

The Latin name of the king cobra - Ophiophagus hannah - translates as “snake-eating”, but it does not belong to the true cobras - representatives of the genus Naja - so this snake was isolated as an independent species.

Dimensions and appearance King cobras truly command respect and fear. Of course, after all average length its body is 3-4 meters, but there are individuals 5-5.5 meters long!

It is not difficult to recognize this snake. Distinctive feature The king cobra has a narrow hood in the area of ​​the back of the head and neck, decorated with 6 large dark shields in the form of a semicircle. The main color of the snake is brown or greenish-brown. It alternates with dark rings surrounding the entire body.

The queen of all snakes has a vast habitat that stretches from India to the Philippines ( South India, Pakistan, South China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Greater Sunda Islands and Philippines).

For no particular reason, the “queen” does not like to be seen. She prefers to stay in dark caves or holes, of which there are a great many in the jungle.

They are also excellent tree climbers and good swimmers, but still prefer to spend most of their time on the ground. When catching prey or pursuing an enemy, the snake can move quickly. Therefore, the chances of escaping from a snake by flight are not so great. You will learn about the reasons for such aggressiveness a little below. IN Lately There is a tendency for king cobras to move closer to human habitation, and there is an explanation for this.

Firstly, such proximity often occurs during the rainy season and, secondly, the widespread spread of agricultural production in Asian countries leads to deforestation, which is natural environment habitat of these snakes. In addition to this, cobras are often spotted in crop areas where many rodents live, and where there are rodents, there are also small snakes - the main food of the king cobra.

Her favorite dish is rat snakes. But given any other opportunity, she is not averse to hunting other species, including poisonous ones. In cases of their deficiency, the “queen” can switch to large lizards, but this does not happen so often.

A potent venom that has a neurotoxic effect helps the snake quickly deal with its prey. It causes paralysis of the respiratory muscles, which leads to respiratory arrest and, as a result, death. The amount of poison injected into the victim during a bite is about 6-7 ml. Such a dose can be fatal even for an elephant, let alone a human.

Despite the highly toxic venom and aggressiveness, deaths from king cobra bites are rare. This is due to the fact that the snake will not waste its “weapons” in vain. First of all, it is necessary for hunting, and in order to intimidate a person, the cobra often inflicts “idle bites.” They occur without the injection of poison or very little of it to be fatal. If a person receives a full-fledged bite, then he has no more than half an hour to live. Only timely administration of the antidote – antivenin – can save him.

Interestingly, the king cobras themselves have developed immunity to their venom, so during “fights” for the female during the mating season, none of the gentlemen dies from the bites of an opponent.

January – beginning mating season when the male goes in search of a female. If there are several contenders, then ritual battles take place. The winner gets Grand Prize– female. Then a short acquaintance occurs, during which the male becomes convinced that the female does not pose a danger to him, and the final stage begins mating games- mating.

The king cobra is one of the few snakes that builds a nest for its eggs. It is a large pile of rotting leaves, located on a small hill (so that it does not flood too much during tropical downpours). There the female lays from 20 to 40 eggs, and then constantly maintains a certain temperature in it (from 25 to 29 C°).

King cobra or hamadryad (lat. Ophiophagus hannah) (eng. King Cobra)

After laying eggs, the female becomes very aggressive. She guards them around the clock and is ready to attack anyone who passes by her “treasure.” Be it a small harmless animal or an elephant. As a result, she is often credited aggressive behavior and an attack for no apparent reason, although all its aggressiveness is most often associated with the close location of the nest. In addition, during this period the toxicity of its venom increases, which leads to even more deaths from its bites.

The incubation period lasts about 3 months, after which small, but already highly poisonous cubs hatch. Before this, the female goes in search of food so as not to eat her babies out of hunger. As a result, out of 20-40 baby snakes, only 2-4 reach adulthood.

In India, the cobra is considered a sacred animal, and its killing is punishable not only by religion, but also by law. Since 1972, there has been a law prohibiting the killing of cobras unless absolutely necessary. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 3 years.

Images of K. cobra can often be seen in temples. Hindus believe that she understands mantras - sacred spells. According to their belief, this snake has purity and holiness and brings wealth to the house.

Once a year, a festival dedicated to the king cobra is celebrated - Nag Panchami. On this day, Hindus bring snakes from the forest and release them in temples or right on the streets. Daredevils put them on their hands, necks, and wrap them around their heads. And all these pranks with animals go unpunished. According to Indian beliefs, snakes do not bite anyone on this day. After the end of the holiday, all the cobras are taken back to the forest.

King cobras live for about 30 years and constantly grow throughout this period.

Subclass: Lepidosauria = Lepidosaurs, scaly lizards

Order: Squamata Oppel = Scaly

Suborder: Serpentes (Ophidia) Linnaeus = Snakes

Family: Elapidae Boie, 1827 = Aspid snakes, adders

Species: Naja naja = Indian cobra, spectacled snake

Indian cobra, or spectacled snake ( Naja naja), called in India tshinta-negu, nalla-pamba, naga, in Burma mue-nauk, 1.4-1.81 m long. It is fiery yellow in color, with an ash-blue sheen in certain lighting; this color seems, however, pale, since the spaces between the scales are light yellow or white, and often the corners of individual scales are of the same color. On the back of the head is light yellow or White color so dominant that the darker one appears only in the form of specks, and it is in this place that a pattern resembling glasses clearly stands out. These glasses are bordered by two black lines and are usually much lighter than the surrounding parts, while the places corresponding to the lenses of the glasses are either pure black in color or represent a light ocular spot surrounded by a dark edge. The ventral side is dirty white and often has wide black transverse stripes on the anterior third of the body. But often there are specimens that are black on top, blackish-brown below, those that are olive-brown both above and below, and finally, those that are colored grayish on top and whitish below; in addition, in some areas this species does not have a conspicuous pattern on the back of the head. Main differences from related species consist in the absence of large scutes behind the occipital ones, in the number of rows of scales in the middle of the body, of which there are 19-23, and in the insignificant height of the sixth upper labial scute.

The spectacled snake is distributed throughout India, southern China, Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, the greater Sunda Islands except Sulawesi, the Andaman Islands and Ceylon, and in the west throughout Afghanistan, northeastern parts of Persia and southern regions Turkmenistan to the Caspian Sea. In the Himalayas, it is found up to an altitude of 2,500 m. Like most other snakes, it is apparently not associated with a specific area, on the contrary, it settles wherever it finds convenient shelter and enough food. Its favorite home consists of abandoned termite mounds, ruins, heaps of stones and wood, holey clay walls and similar heaps of rubbish, containing holes and hidden gaps that serve as a refuge for the spectacled snake. Tennent points out that in Ceylon it, along with the so-called big-eyed snake (Ptyas mucosus), represents the only snakes that do not avoid the proximity of human dwellings. She is attracted here by the sewage ditches, and perhaps by the prey that she expects to get here, namely rats, mice and small chickens.

Often a flood forces her to look for the higher parts of the country that are not flooded, and at the same time the huts built there. As long as she is not disturbed, she usually lies lazily and listlessly in front of the entrance to her home, and when a person appears, as a rule, she hastily hides and only when driven to the extreme rushes at the attacker. If she is not irritated, for example, if she goes hunting, she crawls along the ground wriggling, with her head barely raised and her neck not widened; if she is irritated or at least frightened, she immediately takes the position characteristic of this type, preparing for an attack. Although it is a diurnal snake, it avoids the heat and generally the burning rays of the sun and begins hunting only in the late afternoon hours and often continues to crawl late at night, and therefore some authors clearly consider it a nocturnal animal.

All observers call her movements slow, but she is more agile than they think: she not only knows how to swim, but to a certain extent also climb. One cobra, which fell into the fortress moat and could not climb its steep walls, swam easily and freely for several hours, holding its head and neck shield above the water; others even went to sea voluntarily. While the Wellington, a Government fishery vessel, was anchored in Kudremele Bay, about a quarter of a mile from the shore, one day, about an hour before sunset, a spectacled snake was spotted from her. She swam straight towards the ship and, when she approached 12 m, the sailors began throwing pieces of wood and other objects at her and forced her to turn towards the shore. The next morning they found the animal's footprint on the shore where it had emerged from the water and tracked it to the nearby jungle. Later, one cobra was found and killed on the same ship, which could only have reached it through the anchor chain; this proves that she can climb well too. Tennent heard that one spectacled snake was found on the top of a coconut tree; “she was attracted, as they said, by the palm sap that was oozing at that time”; in reality, she probably climbed the palm tree to hunt birds or rob nests. They are often spotted on the roofs of houses.

The cobra's food consists exclusively of small animals and, it seems, mainly of reptiles and amphibians, at least Tennent indicates lizards, frogs and toads as the prey it pursues, Fairer, in addition, fish and insects. That it should be dangerous for young chickens, mice and rats is sufficiently clear from the data I cited from the first of the above-mentioned researchers; that she also robs bird nests and especially looks for eggs of domestic birds in chicken coops and dovecotes, Fairer mentions. She has little interest in other snakes and, apparently, does not pursue them. It drinks a lot, but can also tolerate thirst for long periods of time without harm, as observed in captive cobras for weeks or even months.

Regarding the reproduction of the cobra, Fairer says that it lays up to 18 elongated, white, soft-shelled eggs, which are equal in size to the eggs of a domestic pigeon. Finson increases that number to 12-20. The Indians tell about the spectacled snake the same thing that the ancients say about the related Egyptian cobra: that the male and female show a certain mutual affection, that where you catch one cobra, for the most part, soon after that you notice another, etc., with one in a word, that among spectacled snakes there is a mating life, and that both sexes resolutely stick together. Tennent notes that he had two occasions to make observations that seem to confirm this story. One adult cobra was killed in the bathhouse of the government house in Colombo, and "its mate" was found the next day at the same place; in the same way, when a cobra fell into the fortress ditch, then that same morning its “comrade” was found in the neighboring ditch. Did this happen precisely during the mating period and, therefore, can be explained very naturally, Tennent says nothing about this, and therefore we do not know how much this can be considered a matter of chance. Regarding the cubs, the Sinhalese claim that they become poisonous no earlier than the 13th day, when the first molt occurs.

Indian cobra(from the Latin Naja naja) is a poisonous scaly snake from the family of asps, a genus of true cobras. This snake has a body that tapers to a tail, 1.5-2 meters long, covered with scales.

Like all other types of cobras, the Indian cobra has a hood that opens when this adder is excited. The hood is a kind of extension of the body, which arises due to the expanding ribs under the influence of special muscles.

The color palette of the cobra's body is quite variegated, but the main ones are shades of yellow, brown-gray, and often sandy colors. Closer to the head there is a clearly defined pattern, reminiscent of pince-nez or glasses along the contour, which is why it is called Indian spectacled cobra.

Scientists divide the Indian cobra into several main subspecies:

• blind cobra (from Latin Naja naja coeca);
• monocle cobra (from Latin Naja naja kaouthia);
• spitting indian cobra(from Latin Naja naja sputatrix);
• Taiwanese cobra (from Latin Naja naja atra);
• Central Asian cobra (from the Latin Naja naja oxiana).

In addition to those mentioned above, there are several other very few subspecies. Often the Indian spectacled cobra is also attributed to the species Indian king cobra, but it's a slightly different look that has big sizes and some other differences, although very similar in appearance.

Pictured is an Indian spitting cobra

The Indian cobra, depending on the subspecies, lives in Africa, almost throughout Asia and, of course, on the Indian continent. In the territory former USSR these cobras are widespread in the vastness of modern countries: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan - a subspecies of the Central Asian cobra lives here.

Chooses to live in various areas from the jungle to the mountains. On rocky terrain it lives in crevices and various burrows. In China, people often settle in rice fields.

Character and lifestyle of the Indian cobra

This kind poisonous snakes It is not at all afraid of humans and can often settle next to their homes or in fields cultivated for crops. Often Indian cobra found in abandoned, dilapidated buildings.

This type of cobra never just attacks people unless it sees danger and aggression from them; it bites, injecting poison, only in defense, and then, most often, it is not the cobra itself that serves as a deterrent, but its ominous hissing.

When making the first throw, it is also called a deception, the Indian cobra does not make poisonous bite, but simply makes a headbutt, as if warning that the next throw could be fatal.

In the photo there is an Indian cobra naya

In practice, if the snake managed to inject venom during the bite, then the bitten person has little chance of survival. One gram of poison Indian cobra can kill over a hundred medium-sized dogs.

Spitting cobra what is the name of the subspecies of Indian cobra, generally rarely bites. The method of its protection is based on special structure canals of the teeth through which poison is sprayed.

These channels are located not at the bottom of the teeth, but in their vertical plane, and when danger appears in the form of a predator, this snake sprays poison on it, at a distance of up to two meters, aiming at the eyes. If the poison gets into the eye shell it leads to a burn of the cornea and the animal loses clarity of vision; if the poison is not quickly washed off, then further complete blindness is possible.

It should be noted that the Indian cobra has short teeth, unlike other venomous snakes, and are quite fragile, which often leads to their chipping and breaking off, but new teeth very quickly appear to replace damaged teeth.

In India there are many cobras living in terrariums with humans. People train this type of snake using the sounds of wind instruments, and enjoy doing different views with their participation.

There are many videos and photo of Indian cobra with a man who, playing the pipe, makes this adder rise up on its tail, opening its hood and, as it were, dancing to sounding music.

Indians have a positive attitude towards this type of snake, considering them national treasure. This people has many beliefs and epics associated with the Indian cobra. On other continents, this adder is also quite famous.

One of the most famous stories there is a fairy tale about the Indian cobra famous writer Rudyard Kipling called "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi". It tells about the confrontation between a fearless little one and an Indian cobra.

Indian cobra nutrition

The Indian cobra feeds, like most snakes, small mammals, mainly rodents and birds, as well as amphibious frogs and toads. They often destroy bird nests by eating eggs and chicks. Other types of reptiles are also used for food, including smaller poisonous snakes.

Large Indian cobra can easily swallow a large rat or a small one at a time. For a long time For up to two weeks, a cobra can do without water, but having found a source, it drinks quite a lot, storing liquid for the future.

The Indian cobra, depending on its habitat, hunts in different times day and night. It can search for prey on the ground, in water bodies and even in high vegetation. Outwardly clumsy, a snake of this type perfectly crawls through trees and swims in the water, looking for food.

Reproduction and lifespan of Indian cobra

Sexual maturity in Indian cobras occurs in the third year of life. The breeding season takes place in winter in January and February. After 3-3.5 months, the female snake lays eggs in the nest.

The clutch averages 10-20 eggs. This type of cobra does not incubate eggs, but after laying them they are constantly close to the nest, protecting their future offspring from external enemies.

After two months, the baby snakes begin to hatch. Newborn babies, freed from the shell, can easily move independently and quickly leave their parents.

Considering that they are born immediately poisonous, these snakes do not need special care, since they can protect themselves even from large animals. The lifespan of the Indian cobra varies from 20 to 30 years, depending on its habitat and the availability of sufficient food in these places.

General characteristics and habitat

The spectacled snake, or as it is also called, the Indian cobra, comes from the asp family, a genus of true cobras. This snake lives in the countries of Central and East Asia. It is found both in the wilds of the tropical jungle and on open spaces. Very often you can encounter spectacled cobras on the outskirts of cities and on farms. Her favorite places- ruins of houses, piles of wood or stones, clay walls with holes.

Appearance of a spectacled cobra

The spectacled cobra reaches sizes from 1.5 to 1.9 m. Its color largely depends on the environment where the snake lives. The most common are yellow or light gray individuals. But sometimes, much less often, you can see a snake that is black. The belly of the spectacled cobra is light, almost white. The head has a round shape, the eyes are small, with round pupils. She has two poisonous fangs, which are located in the upper jaw.
Located on the back of the head dark spots, who created a peculiar design in the form of glasses. For this, the snake got its name. This image can be seen especially clearly when the cobra senses danger. She raises her body vertically by 1/3, inflates her neck like a hood, turning it completely flat. That’s when the “glasses” on the back of the head become clearly visible.

Lifespan, reproduction of spectacled cobra

The spectacled cobra lays eggs from mid-spring to mid-summer. She uses places that were previously burrows of rodents, hollows of birds or animals, inactive termite mounds and even heaps of fallen leaves. One clutch of a snake consists of 10-30 eggs. The incubation period lasts two and sometimes three months. It all depends on climatic conditions. Newborn cobros hatch with a size of 20-30 cm. From the first days they are independent and at the same time poisonous. Cubs, as well as adult snakes, can scare passersby with their hooded necks. The spectacled cobra lives for about 20 years. They begin to produce offspring in the third year of life.

How does the spectacled cobra behave and what does it eat?

The venom of the spectacled cobra is quite strong. It has the ability to paralyze the muscular activity of its victim. If a snake bites a person, the effect of the poison will begin from the first hour. But at the same time cases with fatal small (6 to 1000). The reason lies in the fact that the spectacled cobra rarely releases poison when attacking. Usually it just bites when it sees danger. This snake is a predator; it feeds on small rodents, hunts toads and frogs, and does not even disdain other snakes.

Interesting cases from life

Often spectacled cobra used by magicians in their show programs. They keep it in a basket, and during the performance they open the lid and start playing the pipe. At this time, a snake rises from the basket and sways, repeating the movements of the musical instrument. This creates the effect of a dance. Some people believe that magicians remove fangs from cobras to protect themselves, but this is not true. Even if you tear them out, new ones will soon appear in the same place. And if the public finds out about this action, everyone will make fun of the magician and drive him away.

The spectacled cobra is one of the many dangerous and poisonous snakes that live on Earth. Snakes are different: some of them are absolutely harmless, while others are really dangerous. However, people to this day treat all of them with prejudice, since they are not very attractive to themselves with their appearance. Among snakes there are individuals that anyone can recognize - cobras. A striking representative of this species is the Indian cobra, or, as it is also called, the spectacled snake, which is scaly. It originates from the family of asps, and those, in turn, from the genus of true cobras.

What does such a cobra look like?

The spectacled snake can reach up to 180 cm in length. Its head is slightly rounded and has several large scutes on its surface. The individual has two eyes with round pupils that continuously monitor what is happening.

The teeth of the Indian cobra are small, which cannot be said about the two fangs: they not only differ from the rest in their size, but also contain a supply of poison. The body of the snake is covered with small scales with a rich color palette: they can be light yellow, brown, and even black. As for such individuals in early age, then they have black transverse stripes, which later disappear. The sign by which a cobra can be easily distinguished from other snakes is a pattern on the upper part of its body in the shape of glasses. It shows predators approaching from the rear that the reptile is, as it were, turned in their direction and warns of an immediate reaction, which more than once saves the snake’s life.

Cobra is no different high speed: She moves slowly and clumsily, but when it comes time to move through the trees at high altitudes, she does it quite deftly.

Where does the spectacled snake live?

Such reptiles prefer warm climate: They can easily be found in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, as well as east coast Hindustan near the Indian Ocean.

Representatives of this species live in fields and tropical forests, often make their way to residential areas. Sometimes they are seen in ruins, caves and deep ravines, under the roots of spreading trees and even in brushwood. The Indian cobra is able to live even in the mountains at an altitude of 2.5 km above sea level.

How does the spectacled snake live?

This cobra poses a threat to living beings, including humans. If poison enters his body, he may become ill and begin to suffer. nervous system, the person is gradually paralyzed, after which, in the absence of treatment, death occurs.

When the snake senses that a predator is approaching it, it hisses loudly and inflates its “hood” by expanding all its front ribs, resulting in a spectacle pattern appearing on its back. At this time, the cobra is ready to attack the enemy. If you ignore this alarm signal, the snake will immediately jump, starting to defend itself: it bites and thereby poisons the enemy. However, she never attacks from behind or on the sly, and even if she does attack, she often does not inject poison: this happens because she does not want to waste it.

What does the spectacled snake eat?

Despite its poison, the cobra is not too much of a threat to humans: when it sees people, it tries to crawl away. The fact is that it feeds exclusively on small mammals, rodents, chickens and reptiles. Sometimes its diet includes amphibians and birds; she can attack their nests (if they are too low) and steal the eggs. It happens like this: first, the snake injects poison into the victim’s body through a bite, after which it can swallow it.

The beginning of the snake's mating season falls in the middle of winter, and already at the end of May the females begin to lay their first eggs. Usually their number reaches 20 pieces, but sometimes it happens that a clutch can contain as many as 45 pieces.

The female and the male are together from the beginning of the mating season until the birth of the cubs: they do not hatch the eggs, but do not leave the future snakes. This is necessary so that the masonry is reliably protected from predators and they do not break. This period lasts from 70 to 80 days. Once the young hatch, they can be deadly as their teeth contain poison for self-defense. They live for about 30 years, if they do not die earlier due to attacks by predators.

Who is the Indian cobra afraid of?

The spectacled snake has many enemies, the main one of which is the mongoose - a small predator that is capable of making sharp and fast movements, thereby avoiding its bites. In addition, its sensitivity to the venom of such a snake is much lower than that of other animals. The mongoose attacks the cobra from a jump, turning away and jumping away from its throws, and then easily sinks its teeth into its neck.

How does a person use Indian Cobra?

In India, this snake is elevated to the rank of revered animals; Since ancient times, it has played a big role in myths and legends, where it was credited with colossal magical powers.

Concerning modern world, now the Indian cobra is used as entertainment for tourists. The main thing is to know all the habits of the snake and study its behavior - this is the only way to avoid the risk of being poisoned! This field is especially popular among spell casters who use various musical instruments- most often a pipe. From the outside it seems that the snake begins to dance to the sounds of music, but this is not so - it has no hearing organs, and the cobra does not hear anything, which means that during this time it is preparing for an attack, expanding its ribs. When a pattern of glasses appears on the back, it means that the snake has become too dangerous to continue observing, and the caster quickly locks the cage.